Honda Transalp - TechnoGolem Edition

Hello People,

After much debate with my inner self, and much work to spare the funds, here i am proud owner fo a 1991 Honda transalp, didn't cost a lot compared to what they usually go for, i will start by dismantling it to pieces and clean/repaint/restore rusty and old parts, here is a pic of the bike:

Motorside, i am really hesitating, i'll go either with Motenergy ME1003, or a QS motor kw hub motor (this one), i still need to learn more about unsuspended weight, how much does it affect the bike handling, especially that i go in some country side roads, and even in normal roads there is a lot of potholes overhere.

Controller wise, i'll probably need something with regen, i'd like to the engine brake effect, i didn't choose yet, but it seems the sigma and kelly have this option, battery wise i would love to go for some 18650, but there is so much chemistry options and sizes out there, i still need to learn more about it.

I would like to have at least a 100km range, i will mainly be using the bike in the city, but i have a 60km commute every day (split in 2*15*2, i go back home midday and return later, so i still can charge), i wonder if a 2 speed transmission of some kind wouldn't come handy in this situation...

Welcome mate!
Having the motor in the wheel makes the ride a little bumpier over potholes, but not significantly so. I switched from mid to hub because a higher-powered "kit" became available near me so I can actually tell.
Lower COG makes the bike feel more stable, the additional space is actually now a feature of the bike and I noticed braking on wet surfaces improves due to the additional weight on the rear wheel - a solid net positive in my opinion. Mounting is easy as well, depending on the bike.
I'm not too impressed by the performance of the Kelly, a sine-wave version might be better, though. QS has APTs as well, LUKA EV seems to do OK with them. Sabvotons seem to be another option.

That is all very nice, but what we would like to know is when will Honda start marketing a production highway-legal electric motorcycle? Since you seem to know so much about the Honda Corporation and its history, do you have an insight on that aspect of their future?

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, aircraft, motorcycles, and power equipment.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. Honda became the second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer in 2001. Honda was the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in the world behind Toyota, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai Motor Group, General Motors, Ford, Nissan, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2015.
Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura, in 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators, and other products. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 HondaJet, which began production in 2012. Honda has three joint-ventures in China (Honda China, Dongfeng Honda, and Guangqi Honda).
In 2013, Honda invested about 5.7% (US$6.8 billion) of its revenues in research and development. Also in 2013, Honda became the first Japanese automaker to be a net exporter from the United States, exporting 108,705 Honda and Acura models, while importing only 88,357.

I have been doing some crazy work hours lately, and i didn't have much time to really come back here, even though i started twice to type an answer, but never really got to finish.

And i have some questions, first, given how things are going with my main job, i started doing some overtime on my second work (UberEats), and this got me thinking, if i could put forward the money for the conversion, i could get back the cost of the conversion in a bit more than a year of gas spared money (200-300 euros a month worth of gas).

Did anyone see or make a removable pack battery? that way i could have 2 packs, one at home charging while i use the other one, i am asking this because i started logging my mileage everyday two weeks ago, it has been topping at 140km, a third during mid day hours, the rest during the evening hours, i could use a swap of batteries when i come home.

Another thing, can i buy a motor and a controller, but underpower them? i am mostly in the city, and don't need all that punch an electric bike has for the deliveries, and i almost never take the highway, so, is it possible to take a motor rated for 72 volts for example and only power it at 48 volts? My top speed is around 65 in the city, 75 maximum, would re configuring my potential battery pack from 72v to 48v improve my mileage, and by how much?

The more i think and the more i would like to use a hub motor, the options out there are pretty interesting, my actual daily driver is a honda vfr 800 vtec, i love the torque of this bike, so i'm looking at getting the same amount of torque from the transalp, nothing more nor less, and as i said before, i don't need high speeds at first, 75 km/h would be great.

I've asked QS motor for their hub motor specs, the 12kw watercooled version, maybe if i can spare the money on the batteries i would buy their whole kit all together, not sure though.

Battery wise, i have a friend here that works in garbage collection center, he said he could talk to his boss and see if we could strike a deal get some laptop batteries, recycle the stuff and see where that leads me to.

Do you think i can put 15kw of 18650 battery in the transalp frame if i use a hub motor? i know that zero motor bikes pack 13kw of battery (16 with a powertank), i will leave the charger at home and only charge at home, so that's more space for the batteries.

The Transalp itself seems in good condition, there is only a piece that's a bit crooked, not that kind that you can align back unfortunately, i'll be looking for a spare, but it shouldn't be very expensive.

I spend so much time working that i can't really recollect all my thought and give you a formatted idea, but those are my thoughts for the project for the moment, thanks for reading and answering me!

Higher voltage is actually better for efficiency. And will make your 18650 battery configuration easier. But have you worked out the time and cost and risk/complexity of building a battery pack like that? I would advise that 3 Tesla modules would give you the voltage and lots of current capacity for a sporty lower speed bike and easily fit your frame with a hub motor.

There are 2 hub motors I would advise. I have spoken to ZEV electric bikes who build some pretty smart scooters with impressive efficiency and range. They are willing to sell a fully tuned ready to install drivetrain using their hub motor and controller. Or I would consider the Enertrac hub motor for the larger wheels of your transalp. But the qs motors do seem like good value if on a budget though they'll not be particularly exhilarating in acceleration.

FWIW, I've done a whole lot of research, talked to Michael Czysz whose first bike had swappable packs, as well as experimented with my own swappable battery packs. The conclusion I came to is that the hardware necessary to make the pack swappable is pretty much a waste of space that could better be used for a bigger pack. For the 3 bikes I've built with swappable packs, I literally never have swapped a pack. I loved the idea, it just didn't actually work for me. Zero, however, does have swappable packs on their FX and FXS and Alta does as well. They say it takes about 10 minutes to swap packs.

On the ZEV motor mentioned above, I wouldn't touch ZEV with a ten foot pole. I could point you to any number of posts and threads supporting bogus claims and straight out BS if you're interested. Mark at Enertrac, however, is a prince, and totally stands behind his product. I'm not a fan of hub motors (yes, unsprung weight is a real thing), but if you decide to go that route, save yourself a whole lot of headache and go with Enertrac.

FWIW, I've done a whole lot of research, talked to Michael Czysz whose first bike had swappable packs, as well as experimented with my own swappable battery packs. The conclusion I came to is that the hardware necessary to make the pack swappable is pretty much a waste of space that could better be used for a bigger pack. For the 3 bikes I've built with swappable packs, I literally never have swapped a pack. I loved the idea, it just didn't actually work for me. Zero, however, does have swappable packs on their FX and FXS and Alta does as well. They say it takes about 10 minutes to swap packs.

On the ZEV motor mentioned above, I wouldn't touch ZEV with a ten foot pole. I could point you to any number of posts and threads supporting bogus claims and straight out BS if you're interested. Mark at Enertrac, however, is a prince, and totally stands behind his product. I'm not a fan of hub motors (yes, unsprung weight is a real thing), but if you decide to go that route, save yourself a whole lot of headache and go with Enertrac.

Ted

I've only emailed with ZEV and they were very much about ramming a product down my throat, so I am not eager to buy a turnkey from them. But their matched motor/controller is attractive on paper, though it is their paper...

Stark

I do note however that their 17" motor at least is the same as the QS motor and I am unsure how it is special. My only thought is that their own built controller is a true sinusoidal controller and better and more efficiently controls the BLDC hub motor than a Kelly. So I'd have confidence getting a QS motor and consider a DIY controller per the forum thread if you are up to the challenge of tweaking the controls to fine tune it and save a load of cash too.